Fleet of feet Brady?

Monday

Oct 29, 2007 at 12:01 AMOct 29, 2007 at 11:03 PM

FOXBORO - Who knew? Tom Brady has legs too. It's not like the Patriots are in need of any additional weapons, but they unveiled a new one anyway. Brady, usually content to methodically pick apart defenses from within the cozy confines of the pocket, yesterday chose to give his feet a little workout, rushing for a pair of scores and scrambling for two key first downs as New England cruised to another lopsided victory, easily disposing of the Washington Redskins 52-7.

Douglas Flynn/Daily News staff

Who knew? Tom Brady has legs too.

It's not like the Patriots are in need of any additional weapons, but they unveiled a new one anyway.

Brady, usually content to methodically pick apart defenses from within the cozy confines of the pocket, yesterday chose to give his feet a little workout, rushing for a pair of scores and scrambling for two key first downs as New England cruised to another lopsided victory, easily disposing of the Washington Redskins 52-7.

"That's so unexpected to see Tom out there running because he's so deadly in the pocket," said Pats defensive lineman Richard Seymour. "Especially having that group (of offensive linemen) up front, they've been doing an awesome job all year long. They're one of the best-coached groups in all of football with Dante (Scarnecchia)."

Those linemen take pride in protecting Brady, who was sacked for just the eighth time all season yesterday. But they weren't quite sure what to make of Brady as a runner.

"Yeah, that's a little different, but that was what was working tonight," said guard Logan Mankins. "We're going to take what the defense gives us.

"He looked pretty fast," added Mankins, who then admitted his view from the trenches didn't quite give him the best vantage point. "Actually I don't know. I didn't see him running. I'm sure he did a good job, though."

Fullback Heath Evans had an unobstructed view, and wasn't quite so kind in his critique.

"Let's hope he doesn't always do that," said Evans. "Let's just leave it at that."

But when pressed, Evans continued with this succinct scouting report: "Slow and white."

"I'm just playing," added Evans quickly. "He did a great job tonight. Just the instincts and knowing not to take a chance on throwing the ball into tight coverage. He performs week in and week out. I wouldn't want to play for any other quarterback."

And Brady has no intention of being anything other than a pocket quarterback.

"I don't want to be running," said Brady, who had never rushed for two scores in a game before. "Trust me."

Brady came into the contest with just 11 yards and no scores on eight rushes. Yesterday, his four carries for 14 yards won't put him in line for any rushing titles, but they all proved vital to the Pats' effort.

His first run came on a scramble, as he eluded an oncoming rusher and drove up the middle from 3 yards out to cap a 90-yard drive on New England's first possession. His next carry came in the second quarter, as he scampered for 7 yards on third-and-6 to keep a drive alive that he later finished with a fake spike, then a 2-yard TD toss to Randy Moss.

In the third quarter, he snuck in again on third-and-goal from the 2, and later converted a fourth-and-1 with a 2-yard sneak to the 5. Two plays later, he tossed his third and final TD of the day, to Wes Welker.

The Pats then closed out their scoring when backup Matt Cassel took over behind center and scrambled for a 15-yard scoring run of his own.

"I think mine were just about as far as I could go so anything longer than that I'm not trying to run it," said Brady, who had just three career rushing TDs coming into the game, the most recent coming in 2005. "But Matt's was a great run. He really showed a lot of determination this week to getting back to his style and his preparation."

And now upcoming opponents will have one more thing to prepare for when they face the Pats - Brady the running threat.

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